Second school knife attack in two days kills caretaker in Poland

A 15-year-old former pupil wearing a helmet-mounted camera killed one employee and injured two others at a Polish primary school on Thursday (8 October 2026), the second school stabbing in two days, authorities said (GMA News/Reuters).

The attack took place at around 09:00 local time (0700 GMT) at the John Paul II primary school in Leszczydół-Nowiny, about 70 kilometres north-east of Warsaw, police said (The Sun Malaysia/AFP). The victim was a 37-year-old woman who worked as a caretaker, the first person attacked (AFP). The headteacher, Krzysztof Ochmański, and a teacher were injured restraining the attacker, and their lives are not in danger, the interior ministry spokesperson said (NDTV/Reuters). The boy, now a vocational school student, was carrying three knives and was arrested at the scene (NDTV/Reuters).

It came a day after a 19-year-old wounded 10 people, including himself, at another school in Ostrółęka (GMA News/Reuters). Police also detained a 17-year-old in Sierpc who had spoken of doing “something dangerous” at his school; officers found two knives in his possession (NDTV/Reuters).

Prime Minister Donald Tusk told an emergency meeting: “We fear a grim copycat phenomenon,” adding that Poland was facing “a killer who wore a helmet-mounted camera, intending to film the knife attack” — though it is unconfirmed whether the attack was filmed. He ordered police to visit schools daily (GMA News/Reuters). Police are investigating whether the incidents could be linked to an internet challenge (GMA News/Reuters).